Using Our Draft Kit to Win Your CBS Fantasy Football League

CBS' draft lobby takes some getting used to. Cut down on your research time with some of these tips.

Fantasy football drafts don't make or break your season.

The best drafts can get demolished by injuries or poor in-season management, and good roster moves can help undo a crummy draft. But it's never a bad thing to have a strong team after the draft, and it should never be your goal to DGAF your way through a draft with the intent to make up for it with waiver-wire pickups and trades.

One way to nail your draft -- or to not flub it up completely -- is to know your particular site's default rankings well. Whether it's ESPN, Yahoo, or NFL.com, there are mostly minimal differences in player ranks -- when you compare them to what you find in a CBS lobby.

That's not to say that CBS' rankings are good, bad, or anything in between. But if you're in a CBS league, you better do some mock drafts there to get familiar with the player list.

That or just keep reading to see some fundamental principles in the CBS lobby as well as some overvalued and undervalued players when we customize our draft kit (or draft kit app) to CBS' default settings.

Fundamental Principles

1. The rankings are unique. That's really the only way I can say it. There are players who are listed significantly above or below the industry average and our customized rankings.

2. All touchdowns are six points. That includes passing touchdowns.

3. Benches are short. The default format lists five bench slots. That gives you a 14-player bench, two shorter than ESPN, and one shorter than NFL and Yahoo.

4. Default leagues have three wide receivers and no flex. They're also standard leagues, so that means you aren't getting bonus points for loading up on wide receivers (but you need three of them each week), and that also means you really don't want to be stuck with a second tight end when you can play only one and have a really short bench.

Overvalued CBS Players According to Our Projections

Um, there are 25 players inside CBS' top 100 who should be taken 24 picks or more later, per our customized projections.

Player

Pos

CBS Draft App

numberFire Rank

Difference

J.J. Nelson

WR

89

261

-172

C.J. Prosise

RB

90

234

-144

James White

RB

73

204

-131

Latavius Murray

RB

37

123

-86

Matt Bryant

K

79

154

-75

Stephen Gostkowski

K

86

152

-66

Samaje Perine

RB

71

132

-61

Jonathan Stewart

RB

64

124

-60

Tevin Coleman

RB

18

76

-58

Derrick Henry

RB

99

155

-56

Adrian Peterson

RB

65

118

-53

Doug Martin

RB

66

115

-49

Theo Riddick

RB

56

104

-48

Delanie Walker

TE

45

93

-48

Danny Woodhead

RB

53

100

-47

Brandon Marshall

WR

33

77

-44

Mark Ingram

RB

24

67

-43

Marshawn Lynch

RB

21

59

-38

Jameis Winston

QB

47

84

-37

Rishard Matthews

WR

51

87

-36

Mike Gillislee

RB

49

83

-34

Matt Forte

RB

69

103

-34

Kyle Rudolph

TE

68

102

-34

Zach Ertz

TE

74

107

-33

LeGarrette Blount

RB

91

117

-26

Yeah, so there are two kickers inside the top 100 of the default rankings, so don't take them there.

Numerous timeshare backs -- or straight up backups -- are listed comfortably inside CBS' top 100, and our projections disagree there, so keep an eye out on draft day for these types of players in particular.

Undervalued CBS Players According to Our Projections

These players are inside our top 100 but are at least 24 picks later in CBS' draft lobby.

Player

Pos

CBS Draft App

numberFire Rank

Difference

Pierre Garcon

WR

283

92

191

Ameer Abdullah

RB

149

50

99

Alshon Jeffery

WR

111

35

76

Andrew Luck

QB

100

27

73

Matthew Stafford

QB

144

81

63

Martavis Bryant

WR

146

85

61

Golden Tate

WR

97

39

58

Russell Wilson

QB

84

28

56

Jamison Crowder

WR

127

71

56

Andy Dalton

QB

132

78

54

Devante Parker

WR

148

94

54

Tyler Eifert

TE

118

65

53

Larry Fitzgerald

WR

96

44

52

Cameron Meredith

WR

142

90

52

Willie Snead

WR

104

56

48

Brandin Cooks

WR

76

29

47

Ben Roethlisberger

QB

93

47

46

Jimmy Graham

TE

143

97

46

Tyreek Hill

WR

105

62

43

Corey Davis

WR

139

98

41

Eddie Lacy

RB

112

73

39

Rob Gronkowski

TE

62

24

38

Allen Robinson

WR

70

32

38

Donte Moncrief

WR

126

89

37

Kirk Cousins

QB

85

49

36

T.Y. Hilton

WR

55

20

35

Derek Carr

QB

120

95

25

Amari Cooper

WR

50

26

24

So, there are 28 players who are two full rounds later (in a 12-team draft) than we'd value them.

Primarily, they're wide receivers. Don't forget that CBS' default format requires three wide receivers and just two running backs. Even in a standard league, that means you can't be lagging on wideouts.

Hidden Gems

Pierre Garcon has to count because he's listed at 283 in the CBS lobby. He's a top-100 pick, per our projections, in this setup.